Meta

Google announced a few days ago that Google Maps now allows navigation (as Tweeted by me as soon as I heard). Here’s an application that will make it a lot easier for you to launch Google Navigation (as well as other services like Maps and Contacts). It’s just an easier way to start navigating. Here’s a screenshot of the app:

CarDock by maxitup (click for full size)

To install it follow these simple steps:

Download and install Astro File Manager from the Market (if you don’t have it already)

Here’s some Internet settings which you can use on your T-Mobile HTC Desire contract to improve your internet connection in case it’s a bit flaky. Before you start to edit them I’d strongly recommend you write down the original settings in case you want to revert (or if someone is kind enough to post them in comments then even better!)

Before I get into this I want to make one thing clear: it’s not bad to have a task killer installed for the purpose of checking what’s running or to close unnecessary apps, but if you have it make sure the task killer itself isn’t running in the background.

Ok, so a lot of people with their new Desire have been recommended to install a task killer. Here’s a few reasons why you don’t need one:

The way Android OS works is that when an app is in the background then it’s as if the app is frozen and not really running. The exception being apps that need to run in the background such as feed readers, Twitter clients and so on. Having apps in the background that aren’t doing anything is therefore not a problem. The ones that are (Peep, Stocks and so on) you can just change their update frequency to something higher so they’re not running as often.

The memory management of Android makes sure you always have sufficient free memory. If the available memory falls below a certain threshold your phone will automatically close older applications. Even though this wasn’t too efficient on the Hero, it’s far better on the Desire which has more initial memory to work with.

Task Killers themselves use up system resources constantly and in turn use battery life, not to mention that it’s trying to access ALL the other processes. Many users have reported an increase in battery life when they don’t have a Task Killer running

Some task killers will make Sense laggy. Lagginess is a common complaint from Task Killer users. It keeps trying to access the Sense process and causes it to lag.

Certain apps restart anyway. HTC Apps like Stocks, Peep and Footprint will restart themselves whenever they’re closed. This restart process might cause your phone to lag for a second, use up extra battery during the initialisation process, and so obviously closing such apps has done more bad than good.

The Desire actually has enough memory and processing power to handle many applications being open. If it’s not broke then don’t fix it, right?

If you insist on having one installed then make sure it’s not always running. When you select apps to close, make sure the task killer itself is included.

One of the main complaints about Desire users is the battery finishing quickly. From smartphone experience, I’d say ideal battery life on any smartphone (which obviously the Desire is) is about a day. That’s to say if you need to charge your battery every night then it’s pretty standard. This isn’t your standard phone which might play a few MP3s, receive a few calls and possibly view a couple of low-quality webpages on a small browser. No, the Desire is a powerhouse full of emails, full web browsing, media playing, wireless connections, navigation, high quality video playback, gaming and a whole lot more!

If your battery is getting drained a lot quicker than that, then here’s a good few tips on how to make it last to the end of the day:

Remove your Task Killer. Seriously, the Desire doesn’t NEED one and I’ll be writing up another post about them after this to explain in detail why. If you do want to use one, make sure it isn’t always running in the background.

Turn of Mobile Data when not in use. The phone uses a lot of internet functions, whether it’s checking email, syncing contacts, GTalk or checking for tweets. To be able to do it all properly it needs an active Internet connection. When there’s no mobile internet coverage it will REGULARLY check to see if there’s coverage available. If you know you’re in a location without mobile internet, do your battery a favour and turn the Mobile Data off to prevent those checks, then enable it again when you’re leaving.
To do this go on Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile networks > Use only 2G networks

Disable GPS – if you’re not using it then there’s no need to keep it on is there?

Screen brightness – this one’s a tricky one. With the AMOLED screen you do need it turned up quite bright to view outdoors. But if you’re indoors then a lower brightness shouldn’t a be a problem. I normally keep my phone set to Auto-brightness – to enable go on Settings > Sound & Display > Brightness > Automatic brightness. Even with auto-brightness enabled I can get to the end of the day with 30-40% battery remaining.

Remove unnecessary widgets. Whilst they look very nice, widgets can use up a lot of battery. Try removing some that you can live without.

Use Wireless for browsing – yup, if you’re planning on using the Internet for an extended period of time whether it’s normal browsing, or watching BeebPlayer or YouTube, it’s actually preferred if you have a wireless connection rather than using mobile internet. The bonus is you get a much better browsing/viewing experience too!

Extra Tips

Use a widget to easily toggle settings. Even though I’ve listed the entry in Settings to change those settings, a lot can easily be handled using widgets or apps. I normally use MySettings which you can open using the notification bar, and it allows quick toggles of: Mobile Data On/Off, Silent/Loud, WiFi On/Off, GPS On/Off, Bluetooth On/Off, AutoSync On/Off, Auto Rotate On/Off, Screen Timeout, Brightness Level, Unlock Pattern

You can monitor which activities are actually using up your battery. Have a look under Settings > About phone > Battery Use to see what’s being taking the toll on the battery. It’s normally Display, Standby and Voice Calls for me.

The main ones are Mobile Networks and GPS, but all the above tweaks will improve your battery life!

Feedback

It’d be great to hear other peoples tips too, and hopefully I can extend this list. If you want to contribute either leave a comment or email hello [at] myhtcdesire [dot] com. Thanks!

Well this is actually what is known as a QR Code or a 2D barcode. It’s a barcode which can contain a piece of information such as a weblink, chunk of text or even a business card.
On Android it’s commonly used to let you download apps, or visit websites that you’re viewing on your computer to your Android phone.

To use one is really easy, just go to the Market and search for “Barcode Scanner”. It’s a free app. Download and install. Then, whenever you see this code of you can run the app, scan the code and see what information the barcode has. If it’s an app, it will take you to the Market entry for that app or if it’s a weblink it’ll open in the browser and if it’s a piece of text then it’ll be displayed onscreen for you to read.

QR Codes are generally featured on app websites the likes of AndroLib or even single app websites like Replica Island

You’ll find them becoming popular on commercial products too. For example I recently bought a can of Pepsi which had one of these codes on. Scanning it took me to a webpage with a Pepsi competition on!

Seems to be a few posts about syncing contacts to the Desire recently, I promise more variety in the next few posts (I’m open to suggestions) but I suppose this is the kind of thing people want right now as they start using their Desires!

Anyway, here’s a link to a Google page which gives you straight forward instructions on how you can directly sync contacts from your Symbian phone to your GMail account. Once synced, you can use that GMail account on your Desire and sync all the contacts down to your phone. It even works with your calendar too!

It’s really easy, done with software that should be on your Nokia already have (and if not it’s free to download anyway).
Basically: Nokia -> GMail -> HTC Desire. Simple.

Here’s a review written by spritey of HUKD of his experience with the HTC Desire after using it for 2 full weeks:

A hugely important part of any phone – and while all the bells and whistles are exciting at the beginning.. It’s really how it performs over time.

Well i can tell you know – it’s been fantastic..

It’s never crashed, never slowed down.. It does the exact same job as when i got it 2 weeks ago..

The keyboard is still unbelievable, with the scarily intuitive corrective text being nothing short of a godsend. Lets face it, we all hit the wrong buttons half the time on a touch screen phone.. This almost eliminates that problem.

The general User Interface has just been a pleasure to use, with everything feeling like it’s in the right place.

The thing i’ve also noticed, every friend i’ve shown it to just knows how to use it.. I guess it’s built off the same elements as an iPhone.. You have a similar structure – yet everything goes just that little bit further to create a more substantial experience.. Such as facebook and Email integration into contacts etc.. It just goes that extra mile.

Web Browsing – by far the best phone to do it on..

With the AMOLED screen quality, resolution and general stability / speed of the Android Browser. It’s unbeatable. Text reflow is the stand out – and while they’ve had it since the HTC Touch Diamond.. The other elements hadn’t come upto scratch.. I could not go back to a mobile browser without text reflow, it’s just such a huge benefit. (Text reflow is when you zoom it, the text displays adjusts to fit your screen.. So you are not panning from right to left all day to read an article etc).

App Store – i’ve mentioned it before on here.. When you buy an app, you can simply refund it within 24 hours if you don’t like it.. If you decide to buy it again, you are unable to refund it.. Why on earth are Apple not doing this.. It protects developers by only allowing one refund – and allows me.. The consumer.. To try out all the paid outs i like, without the fear of wasting my money..

I see other phones goimg up going sale on forums, people wanting to trade their 16GB/32GB iPhone 3GS for a HTC Desire.. This is the first time i’ve never been tempted to offer my phone in trade in order to go back to an iPhone, it really has hooked me in that much..

Even if the iPhone match’s this in terms of hardware in the next revision – i think anyone would be insane not to buy the HTC Desire.. From a price point alone, it’s such an obvious choice.

This is going to give everyone a pretty clear indication on what to expect from the next iPhone – will that extended functionality be part of the next iteration.. Apple isn’t known for making gigantic leaps with their product line, it only ever happens on occasion. But it’s going to be interesting to see thats for sure .